Features

Monday night, June 9, folks in Varnamtown turned out to honor one of their own — longtime resident Barbara “Bobbie” Varnam — for her efforts to start a community college in Brunswick County 36 years ago.

Varnam, 78, was instrumental in her mission to see a local college in her neck of the woods, Varnamtown native Marlene Varnam noted at the June 9 gathering in the meeting room at Varnamtown Town Hall.

Starting June 16, Brunswick County Parks and Recreation Department, in partnership with Communities in Schools, is conducting weeklong summer camp for children in kindergarten through fifth grade at four local elementary schools.

When I was a kid, our family would make an annual summer trip to visit relatives in Hanover, Va. This was before interstate highways, and well before air-conditioning in the car, so we’d always leave early in the morning, well before dawn. Rousted from bed, and trundled dreamily into the back seat, the beginning of the trip was a bit mysterious, and somehow a grand adventure, but boy, were we glad to get out of that car finally late in the afternoon.

Back by popular demand, The Ginger Thompson Band will perform at the Sunset Beach Concerts from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, in The Village Park on Queen Anne Street.

The Ginger Thompson Band, based in Raleigh, plays a mixture of Motown, soul and shag. The band typically covers hits by Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Martha and the Vandellas, Wilson Pickett and Junior Walker & the All Stars.

Now that it’s warmed up, I’ve been thinking of doing some more aquatic botany. A kayak or canoe is good for studying plants growing in lakes and creeks, but sometimes you just can’t beat putting on some old tennis shoes and wading into an oozy-bottomed pond where the water maybe way up to your waist. This is no time to be overly concerned with snakes, but a sharp attention paid to any visiting serpents would be a good idea.

This year’s third annual fundraiser for the Novant Health Foundation Brunswick Medical Center, set for 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, May 31, at Brick Landing Plantation, will incorporate dancing to beach music, and flip-flops are welcome.

Music will be provided this year by the Sea-Cruz band and Sea Pans, a steel drum ensemble.

Highlights include cocktails and island cuisine in addition to dancing. This year’s event co-chairs are Cindy Cheatham and Jonathan Tait.

He’s a self-made businessman and artist who in recent years has been donning yet another hat as an author.

Just a few years ago, widely known Fayetteville entrepreneur and metal sculptor David McCune caught a writing bug and started putting pen to paper.

One of his inspirations was his mom, Betty McCune, who died in January 2010 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. McCune’s first book, “Death, Divorce, Alzheimer’s,” conveys how the disease affects the family as much as it does the patient.

SUNSET BEACH — The Old Sunset Beach Bridge has received a Preservation Award of Community Leadership from the Historic Wilmington Foundation.

Announcement of the award, the first ever for a bridge, came last week at the New Hanover County Courthouse as the Old Bridge Preservation Society was gearing up for the opening of the new Museum at the Old Bridge this past weekend, May 24 and 25.

This past weekend, we flew up to Long island to visit relatives who live in the Hamptons. It was definitely still spring up there — daffodils everywhere, as well as lots of Bradford pear and serviceberry in full bloom. Quite a change when we got back to central South Carolina, where we’ve basically entered into early summer. It’s not really hot yet, but it’s warming up fast!

SUNSET BEACH — Three years after being shut down, retired and moved to a new resting site, the old Sunset Beach bridge is ready for a new opening.

After years of fundraising and getting ready, the Old Bridge Preservation Society is gearing up for the opening of the Museum at the Old Bridge.

The museum, inside the upper level of the bridge’s old tender house, officially opens to the public with planned festivities from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 24, and Sunday, May 25, at the old bridge’s mainland resting site at 109 Shoreline Drive West.

The 33rd Annual Blue Crab Festival is set for this weekend just south of the border in Little River, S.C.

Scheduled 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, the award-winning festival traditionally showcases all-day entertainment and an array of food, about 200 arts-and-crafts vendors, business booths and community groups lining the Little River waterfront the weekend after Mother’s Day.

Here’s a flower that looks like a small explosion. In this photo, you are looking at a blossom head-on, so to speak. There are five to eight fleshy sepal lobes and plenty of stamens remaining in the flower. It used to have a number of red-orange, floppy petals, but these have all fallen away. Before long, this flower will be producing a fruit.

Singer-songwriter Ellis Paul will perform at the last Listen Up Brunswick County concert of this season, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at Holden Beach Chapel Fellowship Hall, 107 Rothschild St. in Holden Beach.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Another pre-concert wine-tasting is from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Kd Morris Art Gallery & Wine Shop on the island causeway, at 3422 Holden Beach Road.